It used to be easy to distinguish the Jew from the non-Jew . . .and this had nothing to do with looks. The Jew was a “free thinker.” He didn’t necessarily conform to culture at any given time; and the mental habits of society were not always reflected in the Jewish outlook. Jews were “liberals” because they didn’t often sanctify an establishment merely because it was an establishment. Philosophically they promoted fixing things that weren’t broken, for the seemingly foolish notion of making everything optimal. Thus Jews were accused of being Bolsheviks and Communists even when they weren’t. The Jew encouraged thinking, as many of the erudite did, even when the Jew was rather poor and humble.
Ah, the days.
From the Jewish point of view, Christians were considered remarkably tribal, conforming to leadership’s decrees and contemporary mental outlooks without even thinking long and hard how some of these outlooks got established. They went with the flow, and always seemed to be conscious of some “status quo.”
Not always the truth, of course, just like the stereotype of the Jew was not always correct. But it cannot be denied that a more “free thinking” or individualistic attitude was dominant in Jews than non-Jews in days past. It was perhaps not always meant to be a laudable stereotype . . .but considering the age we are now living it, I think such a stereotype of the idealist and thinker a rather good one.
Such is lamentably not the case as much anymore. . . at least with religious Jews. Jews seem to be guilty of what they once condemned the Catholics for: of being a mass of followers, following leaders merely because they are the leaders. They do not incline themselves to study the Bible, and are glad to regard the Torah as “five slim volumes” compared to what all the Rabbis have made up since. Some brag about how many rabbis their synagogue has while at the same time not knowing that many of the things they are taught do not stem from anything in scripture. Some of them probably don’t even think it important. They recite ’RAMBAMs 13 points, but in study of the scripture how many truly believe that God spoke to Moses and that the prophets are true? Despite the clear language of many prophecies, and even the language of the Amidah that encapsulates so much of the hopes of ancient Israel, many Jews believe that prophecies once declared Messianic no longer really are; and, sadly, they are ready to believe all contemporary reinterpretations. One Reform Rabbi even went so far to write there is no Messiah.
But the language of scripture hasn’t changed. Nor the nature of our captivity. The following are the major Messianic prophecies, given in context.
The very first one is often mentioned on this site— At Horeb God answered Moses by voice, and all the people freaked out. The elders approached Moses and said: “Speak thou to us, and let not God speak to us, lest we die.” And Moses replied: “Be of good courage, for God is come to you to try you, that his fear may be among you, that ye sin not.”
Moses was right, of course. God intended the display at Horeb to impress upon what just a fraction of his power was like. He did it, indeed, to scare us, so we would be afraid of him. He did this knowing what must next be done. When Moses went to commune with him, God spoke: “They have spoken rightly all that they have said to thee.” God would no longer speak to us or appear to us in even a fraction of his glory. Moses went down and told the people what God said:
“The LORD thy God shall raise up to thee a prophet of thy brethren, like me; him shall ye hear: according to all things which thou didst desire of the LORD thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, We will not again hear the voice of the LORD thy God, and we will not anymore see this great fire, and so we shall not die. And the LORD said to me, They have spoken rightly all that they have said to thee. I will raise up to them a prophet of their brethren, like thee; and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them as I shall command him. And whatever man shall not hearken to whatsoever words that prophet shall speak to them, I will take vengeance on him.”
Moses immediately knew the gravity of this prophet’s advent, for in so saying the above God made it clear that Moses was not worthy, and something far deeper than mere laws of behavior and cleanliness was in view as coming from “that prophet” in the future. Moses didn’t contest and say, “Tell, me, and I will go tell the people now.” He went to tell them the good news: “That prophet” will come and tell them all.
The next prophecy was in Moses’ book of Job. Writing what is perhaps the story that is the greatest allegory of life, based on the life of Job, the fifth from Esau, Moses was inspired to relate the coming Redeemer, for he knew the law was not given for redemption. He wrote in chapter 19:
For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.
Moses made it clear that the redemption of his body would be by one who lived in the present tense circa 3500 years ago, and yet in latter days to come he would stand upon the earth. As a resurrected man, he would see God plainly with his own eyes.
God as the Redeemer, walking among us, as much as it may have been expurgated from modern Jewish teaching, was made clear from the beginning. “That prophet” would speak direct from God in ways Moses never could, though God spoke to Moses direct. We must assume this was pervasive in Moses’ mind, for he made this concept the culmination of his departing song. Just before he died, he bid farewell to Israel, singing this before them:
Behold, behold that I am, and there is no god beside me: I kill, and I will make to live; I will smite, and I will heal; and there is none who shall deliver out of my hands. For I will lift up my hand to heaven, and swear by my right hand, and I will say, I live forever. For I will sharpen my sword like lightning, and my hand shall take hold of judgment; and I will render judgment to mine enemies, and I will recompense them that hate me. I will make my weapons drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh, with the blood of the wounded, and from the captivity of the heads of their enemies that rule over them. Rejoice, ye heavens, with him, and let all the angels of God worship him; rejoice ye Gentiles, with his people, and let all the sons of God strengthen themselves in him; for he will avenge the blood of his sons, and he will render vengeance, and recompense justice to his enemies, and will reward them that hate him; and the LORD shall purge the land of his people.
The overriding theme again: God shall step upon the Earth. For I will lift up my hand to heaven, and swear by my right hand, and I will say, I live forever. That of whom he spoke in Job is once again in view. The Redeemer stands upon the earth. There would be no god but him. Behold, behold that I am, and there is no god beside me
Even less blunt hints as this were used by rabbis to justify belief in the Resurrection. Sanhedrin 21 even uses this same verse. “Rabha propounded another contradiction: It reads [Deut. xxxii. 39]: ‘I make one die and I make one alive’; and further on it reads: ‘I wound and I heal.’ It means that the Holy One, blessed be He, says: All that I made to die shall I bring to life again, and thereafter shall I cure what was wounded. The rabbis taught: Lest one say that the verse just cited means, I make one die and another one shall I bring to life, therefore it reads, ‘I wound and I cure.’ As wounding and curing apply to one person only, the same is the case with death and life— they apply to one person. This is an answer to those who say that there is no hint in the Torah about resurrection.”
God coming to dwell amongst us was far more hinted at than the resurrection. Behold, behold that I am, and there is no god beside me: I kill, and I will make to live; I will smite, and I will heal; and there is none who shall deliver out of my hands. For I will lift up my hand to heaven, and swear by my right hand, and I will say, I live forever.
Nothing specific was given how God would do this. God had appeared as a man to Abraham; that is well-known. Would he appear as a man one day so that we might see him who “fills heaven and earth”? It was not yet understood, but it was ingrained in Israel: God would come to his people. He was first called “that prophet;” this is a clue as to how he would first appear. Yet though God spoke to Moses directly, “that prophet” to come would be God speaking. Moses picked it up immediately. Though few could probably understand at the time, they could deduce a few points. “That prophet” would be born like Moses, and yet he would be greater. God would not speak to his people directly except through him. He could speak as divine God himself. That was it. No time period, no lineage, no location. That’s all they had. He would stand upon the earth in latter days to come. Even at the time of Christ, the concept of a divine Messiah was predominant, for the scribes and Pharisees taught that “Messiah shall last forever.”
As history went on, God made it plain he would not even speak to the prophets he would raise up. Except for a voice Samuel heard in his mind, or the soft voice Elijah heard at one time, or the vision Isaiah had in the Temple, God’s direct communication through anything audible is thin. God would speak through the prophets, by moving their spirits to declare his will. But he would speak plainly only through “that prophet” to come.
Over time the prophecy of “that prophet” to come became more precise. It began after God raised up David to be king in Israel. The great Psalmist who spoke from God’s spirit. David was obsessed to build a temple for God. But David was a man of blood. It could not be that God’s house could be built by the symbol of force and power, lest mankind say that great men built this for a national emblem. Though God’s spirit can never be limited, his Temple would be like a body housing his soul, the symbol of his presence amongst us. Here we could gather and have a point of contact to relate to him, relate to him who can never been seen as he is. David believed this was very important.
Instead of sanctioning building this Temple, God moved Nathan to come to David to tell something remarkable: (The Chronicles, 17)
Now it came to pass, as David sat in his house, that David said to Nathan the prophet, Lo, I dwell in an house of cedars, but the ark of the covenant of the LORD remaineth under curtains. Then Nathan said unto David, Do all that is in thine heart; for God is with thee.
And it came to pass the same night, that the word of God came to Nathan, saying, Go and tell David my servant, Thus saith the LORD, Thou shalt not build me an house to dwell in: For I have not dwelt in an house since the day that I brought up Israel unto this day; but have gone from tent to tent, and from one tabernacle to another. Wheresoever I have walked with all Israel, spake I a word to any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people, saying, Why have ye not built me an house of cedars? Now therefore thus shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote, even from following the sheep, that thou shouldest be ruler over my people Israel: And I have been with thee whithersoever thou hast walked, and have cut off all thine enemies from before thee, and have made thee a name like the name of the great men that are in the earth. Also I will ordain a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, and they shall dwell in their place, and shall be moved no more; neither shall the children of wickedness waste them any more, as at the beginning, and since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel. Moreover I will subdue all thine enemies. Furthermore I tell thee that the LORD will build thee an house.
And it shall come to pass, when thy days be expired that thou must go to be with thy fathers, that I will raise up thy seed after thee, which shall be of thy sons; and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build me an house, and I will stablish his throne for ever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son: and I will not take my mercy away from him, as I took it from him that was before thee: But I will settle him in mine house and in my kingdom for ever: and his throne shall be established for evermore. According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David.
And David the king came and sat before the LORD, and said, Who am I, O LORD God, and what is mine house, that thou hast brought me hitherto? And yet this was a small thing in thine eyes, O God; for thou hast also spoken of thy servant’s house for a great while to come, and hast regarded me according to the estate of a man of high degree, O LORD God.
The wonderful dualism of prophecy is demonstrated no better than here. The wording alternates between an earthly kingdom for Solomon and a descendent who would have an everlasting kingdom. Therefore by the prophetic education of the time, the prophets and the people could deduce a double fulfillment. Psalm 132 reflected that. 11: The LORD hath sworn in truth unto David; he will not turn from it; Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne. 12: If thy sons will keep my covenant and my testimony that I shall teach them, their sons shall also sit upon thy throne for evermore.
Of the fruit of David’s body God would set upon David’s throne. It is rather ambiguous. It does not say a son or descendant. It really doesn’t clarify who except as “I” and of the “fruit of thy body.” Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne. But then it does set apart David’s actual descendants, clarifying that if they kept the covenant they also would sit upon the throne for ever more.
What a beautiful reply this is to what is essentially a prayer of remembrance. This Psalm was written long after David’s death. The first 10 verses are:
LORD, remember David, and all his afflictions: How he sware unto the LORD, and vowed unto the mighty God of Jacob; Surely I will not come into the tabernacle of my house, nor go up into my bed; I will not give sleep to mine eyes, or slumber to mine eyelids, Until I find out a place for the LORD, an habitation for the mighty God of Jacob. Lo, we heard of it at Ephratah: we found it in the fields of the wood. We will go into his tabernacles: we will worship at his footstool. Arise, O LORD, into thy rest; thou, and the ark of thy strength. Let thy priests be clothed with righteousness; and let thy saints shout for joy. For thy servant David’s sake turn not away the face of thine anointed.
A lovely psalm speaking about David’s desire to build God a house. It ends with For thy servant David’s sake turn not away the face of thine anointed.—in other words, do not delay the coming of thine anointed one. What is God’s response through this psalmist/prophet?
The LORD hath sworn in truth unto David; he will not turn from it; Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne. If thy children will keep my covenant and my testimony that I shall teach them, their children shall also sit upon thy throne for evermore. For the LORD hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his habitation. This is my rest for ever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it. I will abundantly bless her provision: I will satisfy her poor with bread. I will also clothe her priests with salvation: and her saints shall shout aloud for joy. There will I make the horn of David to bud: I have ordained a lamp for mine anointed. His enemies will I clothe with shame: but upon himself shall his crown flourish.
The ambiguity is in some ways banished. The Anointed One is set apart, but regarded only as “fruit” of David’s body whereas the sons of David are specifically guaranteed the actual throne if they keep the covenant. A very different throne is in view for the Anointed.
And such was the case. As this much-later psalm indicates, Solomon was not regarded as the ultimate beneficiary of the prophecy. Moreover, by the time of Hezekiah, King of Judah, some 200 years after the Solomonic Empire, troubles were on every side of Israel and Judah. The kingdom of David had been split on Solomon’s death and David’s heritage had been reduced to small Judah. Israel was grossly corrupt, and the Assyrians were growing mighty and threatening. Yet God had spoken through Nathan so long ago, and he would now elaborate on the prophecies. There would be an eternal throne in David’s heritage.
Micah the Morasthite was moved by God to a beautiful prophecy. He was even given this:
But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.
There it was again! The ruler to come to Israel. He would come from Bethlehem. Yet again, Divinity was implied— his goings forth were from everlasting, just as Moses declared in his song and in Job. This was according to the promise given to David: that an eternal throne was coming.
So calamitous was Judah’s position at the time of Ahaz, Hezekiah’s predecessor, that God sent Isaiah to bolster him with a sign the promise of an eternal kingdom was true and an earthy kingdom for David’s sons was also true, if they kept to the teachings of God. (Isaiah 7)
And say unto him, Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be fainthearted for the two tails of these smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin with Syria, and of the son of Remaliah. Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, have taken evil counsel against thee, saying, Let us go up against Judah, and vex it, and let us make a breach therein for us, and set a king in the midst of it, even the son of Tabeal: Thus saith the Lord GOD, It shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass. For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin; and within threescore and five years shall Ephraim be broken, that it be not a people, and the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings. And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah’s son. (Italicized text is hypothetical restored text taken from later in the passage where it seemed displaced by scribal error).
Moreover the LORD spake again unto Ahaz, saying, Ask thee a sign of the LORD thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above. But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the LORD. And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also? Therefore the LORD himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good. For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, he choses the good. If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established. (Italicized text is hypothetical restored text taken from earlier at the above italic text, assuming minor scribal error in copying. See LXX below)
(LXX) And thou shalt say to him, Take care to be quiet, and fear not, neither let thy soul be disheartened because of these two smoking firebrands: for when my fierce anger is over, I will heal again. 5 And as for the son of Aram, and the son of Romelias, forasmuch as they have devised an evil counsel, saying, 6 We will go up against Judea, and having conferred with them we will turn them away to our side, and we will make the son of Tabeel king of it; 7 thus saith the Lord of hosts, This counsel shall not abide, nor come to pass. 8 But the head of Aram is Damascus, and the head of Damascus, Rasim; and yet within sixty and five years the kingdom of Ephraim shall cease from being a people. 9 And the head of Ephraim is Somoron, and the head of Somoron the son of Romelias: but if ye believe not, neither will ye at all understand.
10 And the Lord again spoke to Achaz, saying, 11 Ask for thyself a sign of the Lord thy God, in the depth or in the height. 12 And Achaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord. 13 And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; is it a little thing for you to contend with men? and how do ye contend against the Lord? 14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; behold, a virgin shall conceive in the womb, and shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Emmanuel. 15 Butter and honey shall he eat, before he knows either to prefer evil or choose the good. 16 For before the child shall know good or evil, he refuses evil, to choose the good; and the land shall be forsaken which thou art afraid of because of the two kings.
There it was, a virgin would conceive of the house of David. (See Men & Brethren in order to address all the modern rot about the meaning of virgin, and how the Jewish scribes of the 3rd century BC understood the context plainly and used the Greek word parthenos—virgin— when translating.)
Isaiah’s prophecies would become more blatant about the one to come. Isaiah 9:
For one who was in anguish there will be no gloom. In the former time he treated the land of Zebulon and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but in the latter time he will make it glorious, by way of the sea, beyond the Jordon, Galilee of the Gentiles. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. On those who lived in the land of deep shadows, the light has shined. You have expanded the nation, you have increased its joy. They rejoice in your presence, as with the joy at harvest, as people cheer when they divide spoil. For the yoke of their burden and the pole on their shoulder, the rod of their oppressors, thou hast broken, as in the day of Midiam. For every boot tramping in the tumult and the garments rolled in blood will be burned for fire.
For unto a child is born, unto us a son is given. The government will be upon his shoulders. He shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the expansion of his government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David, to establish it and to sustain it with justice and righteousness from now on and forever more. The zeal of the LORD of Hosts will do this.
Divinity is clear, so incredibly clear. But it was clearly not understood by many in ancient times and even today. There were prophecies that confused the whole concept. Daniel spoke of the Messiah being “cut off” (killed) for his people. Isaiah spoke of something similar (Isaiah 53). Yet there really is no confusion. God swore “that prophet” would be born amongst his people like Moses. David understood the Anointed would come from his heritage. Isaiah made it plain there would be a virgin birth. The Book of Enoch spoke openly of the “Son of Man” who went hand-in-hand with God and who was from before the beginning. By Christ’s time, none seemed to understand that God’s soul could integrate itself with a body far more wonderfully than it could be associated with the inner sanctum of a temple, this despite the popularity of the Book of Enoch and Christ constantly referring to himself as the “Son of Man.”
Therefore when the Babylonian wise men (magi) came following the star, the only thing definitely understood about the Messianic appearance was where the kingly birth would take place. Matthew 2:
Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet, And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.
Herod’s actions to kill all the children 2 years old and under in Bethlehem betrays the pervasive belief at the time that the Messiah would be a great king ruler. Herod wanted no competition. Plain and simply put, back then as now many people did not know the scriptures. Daniel’s prophecy had made it clear no such kingdom was in view. Something deeper was in view. (Daniel 2):
Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste and said thus unto him, I have found a man of the captives of Judah, that will make known unto the king the interpretation. The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, Art thou able to make known unto me the dream which I have seen, and the interpretation thereof? Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, shew unto the king; But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these; As for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and he that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass. But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart.
Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.
This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king. Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold. And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise. And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken. And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.
Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face, and worshipped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an oblation and sweet odours unto him. The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret.
Daniel gave the interpretation. By history we know that Babylon was followed by Media-Persia; they were followed by the kingdom of the Greeks, and then in turn they were followed by Rome. During Rome, the kingdom would be created without hands, and it would smash the ways of all the old idols.
Daniel also gave a time line unto the Messiah. It is based on a complex seer’s cipher. See the Daniel 9 Cipher.
So the great royal Messiah for David’s throne was not a Messiah come to conquer an earthly throne. The great kingdom of God would last forever. But how could this be? The ancient chief priests and scribes were rightly bewildered. Daniel also said “Messiah is cut off,” but David was promised openly a throne would come from him to last forever. Yet all the time there was in the prophecy that separation in the Anointed and David’s regular kingly line, as in Psalm 132. This separation of the “fruit” of David’s body and his princely sons and the eternality of a throne for an Anointed One should have clued (and no doubt did) some of the ancients to understand that the Messiah’s throne was totally separate. The eternal throne was not the throne of David’s sons.
But it is likely that many Jews did not have the scriptures. They listened on the Sabbath day, and concepts of the Messiah must have been quite distilled. That there was believed to be two different Messiahs— a Redeemer and a royal deliverer— are reflected in Qumran’s scrolls. In other words, preconceived ideas dominated their views, much as they do today. Nevertheless, divine eternality was stressed both by Moses’ language and by direct statements made by Isaiah and Micah, as we have seen above.
Let us continue:
Daniel 9 stressed that Messiah would be “cut off” for his people. Again, this must have helped many to innocently interpret that the Messiah was either just a man, or, considering eternality in some of the prophecies, there was more than one. It is here that both David’s own Psalms and Isaiah’s prophecies come into play.
A key one is Psalm 16:
Preserve me, O God: for in thee do I put my trust. O my soul, thou hast said unto the LORD, Thou art my Lord: my goodness extendeth not to thee; but to the saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent, in whom is all my delight. Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god: their drink offerings of blood will I not offer, nor take up their names into my lips. The LORD is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot. The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage. I will bless the LORD, who hath given me counsel: my reins also instruct me in the night seasons. I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope. For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.
God’s Holy One would not see corruption— in other words bodily decay. Like the first promise to David, an eternal throne is indeed promised. From David God’s Holy One would come. Therefore he would come in flesh, he would die, but his soul would not be left in the grave and his body would not see corruption.
Psalm 2 stressed:
Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel. Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.
How crude if somebody thinks David was speaking of himself. David spoke on his death bed: “The Spirit of the LORD spoke from me, and his words were in my tongue.” David was not given all the nations for his inheritance. The distant future is once again in view, someone begotten of David. So distant was the future by the language that some of it really only applies to today. “Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.” Only today is this going on, as the Gentiles seek to cast of all the truth that Scripture once gave them.
Notice again the clear distinction of language when David speaks both of the LORD and the Lord.
In Psalm 110, David used the same distinction:
The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth. The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek. The Lord at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath. He shall judge among the heathen, he shall fill the places with the dead bodies; he shall wound the heads over many countries. He shall drink of the brook in the way: therefore shall he lift up the head.
Again, the prophecy both spoke of the coming Lord and the time in which his people will be willing. Though this moment may be long from his coming, he still has the dew of his youth. In other words, he has not changed. In fact, no language in scripture allows the Anointed (Messiah) to be regarded as “dead.” He is still alive and prophecies still apply to his expanding kingdom.
David made it even more clear. The Spirit of God himself declared through David’s Psalm 40:
“O LORD my God, thou hast multiplied thy wonderful works, and in thy thoughts there is none who shall be likened unto thee: I declare and spoke: they exceeded number. Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body thou hast prepared me. Whole burnt offerings and sacrifice for sin thou didst not require. Then said I, Behold, I come: in the volume of the book it is written concerning me— I desire to do thy will, O my God, and thy law in the midst of mine heart. I have preached righteousness in the great congregation; lo! I will not refrain my lips; O LORD, thou knowest my righteouesness. I have not hid thy truth within my heart, and I have declared thy salvation; I have not hid thy mercy and thy truth from the great congregation.”
A body— a birth obviously— from David’s heritage. Yet the person was already speaking through David. Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body thou hast prepared me. Whole burnt offerings and sacrifice for sin thou didst not require. Then said I, Behold, I come: in the volume of the book it is written concerning me— I desire to do thy will, O my God, and thy law in the midst of mine heart.
The scriptures thus confirm the Davidic Messiah. . .but David clarified in prophecy that the Holy One would die, that he would not remain in the grave, but that he would be given the nations for his inheritance. And even his death was declared by David. Psalm 22, of course.
1: My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? 2: O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent. 3: But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. 4: Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them. 5: They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded. 6: But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people. 7: All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head saying, 8: He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him. 9: But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts. 10: I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother's belly. 11: Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help. 12: Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round. 13: They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion. 14: I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. 15: My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death. 16: For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. 17: I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me. 18: They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture. 19: But be not thou far from me, O LORD: O my strength, haste thee to help me. 20: Deliver my soul from the sword; my only-begotten from the power of the dog. 21: Save me from the lion’s mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns. 22: I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee. 23: Ye that fear the LORD, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel. 24: For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard. 25: My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear him. 26: The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him: your heart shall live for ever. 27: All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee. 28: For the kingdom is the LORD’s: and he is the governor among the nations. 29: All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul. 30: A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation. 31: They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.
David was not alone. Hundreds of years after him, it was startlingly elaborated upon by Isaiah.
Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? For he grew up before him like a tender plant, and like a root out of a dry ground; he had no form and he had no majesty that we should look at him, and had no attractiveness that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by others, and a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering; and like one from whom people hide their faces, and we despised him, and we did not value him. Surely he has borne our sufferings, and carried our sorrows; yet we considered him stricken, and struck down by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, and he was crushed for our iniquities, and the punishment that made us whole was upon him, and by his bruises we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, each of us, to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, as a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. From detention and judgment he was taken away— and who can even think about his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living, he was stricken for the transgression of my people. Then they made his grave with the wicked, and with rich people his tomb— although he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.
Yet the LORD was willing to crush him, and he made him suffer. Although (Because he) made his soul an offering for sin, he will see his offspring, and he will prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will triumph in his hand. Out of the suffering of his soul he will see light, and find satisfaction. And through his knowledge his servant, the righteous one, will make many righteous, and he will bear their iniquities. Therefore will I allot him a portion with the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong; because he poured out his life to death and was numbered with the transgressors; and he bore the sins of many, and made intercession for their transgressions.”
These are but a few prophecies. There are many others, scattered throughout every prophetic book. They provide a clear picture of many details of our Lord’s life on earth. Such is the case with Zechariah.
Zech 9.9:
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.
Zech 11:13-13
And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. And the LORD said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the LORD.
Zech 13:6
And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends. Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the LORD of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones.
Zech 12:10
And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.
Malachi 3:1
Behold, I send forth my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he himself is coming, saith the LORD of hosts.
Isaiah 11 carries this same distinction: LORD (YHWH) and Lord (Adon or Adonai).
And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse [House of David], and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.
On that day, the root of Jesse, which standeth for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. He shall set up an signal for the nations, and shall assemble the banished of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim. But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west; they shall spoil them of the east together: they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them. And the LORD shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, and make men go over dryshod. And there shall be an highway for the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt.
What shall we make of the revelation of God’s word? Our fathers innocently misread it into 2 Messiahs. The Evangelicals today have read into it it 2 gods, the Father and the Son. But what are Jesus’ first words? The very first words of the gospel? “Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand.” Those words say it all. God is speaking for himself now. There is the good news. God is with us. Cast everything aside and follow. It is what Moses longed for. It is what God promised at Horeb. God has spoken to us plainly. We see by the life of Jesus God’s own nature and way. More than his preaching there was his direct presence. People ask, ‘why didn’t he preach more?’ Or ‘what he preached can be found in the scriptures anyway.’ True. He came to us that we might come directly to him. That is what is important. The King was with us. He told us to our face what the prophets always said: to believe in God is more than sacrifice. Love God, do rightly. What is so important is that the King came himself and showed us plainly, confirming everything the prophets foretold of the nature of God. We saw the perfect life of God. Everyone who was sick he healed; he brought comfort and solace, he taught and he fed. They lived with God and did not know it!
Instead to save our own hides and placate our pride, we nailed him to a cross. He went peaceably to the shame of his own creation doing this to that beautiful tabernacle he built for himself. God showed us what we are in comparison. But he turned it around and destroyed death by resurrection. He confirmed the resurrection. After this, who can deny the nature of God? Surely, he lived with us peaceably, healing our wounds and comforting us. When he came to his Temple and turned it upside down for the blasphemy he saw, we killed the very living temple he swore he would make for himself. What fools we were not to realize God could fashion himself a body and speak directly to us. We regarded a temple as holy because God’s spirit would dwell in the inner sanctum. But we did not know he could dwell in a body. The King has come. Only a fool thinks he does not live now.
He is no different than the God of the scriptures. He has shown himself plainly. Just as the prophets said, Come to him with a contrite heart. The difference now is none can deny his very nature. He brought his kingdom. Follow him. You have no excuse if you don’t. You have seen what a gentle soul your creator is. His kingdom shall ever expand. Forget all the sacrifices and the guilt offerings. You need no priest. The King is here. Rejoice, O Israel, the LORD our God is One, and he walked among us. The King has come. 
